Asian stocks down as US manufacturing disappoints

By PAMELA SAMPSON | September 4, 2012 | 10:36 PM EDT

An investor looks at a stock price monitor at a private securities company Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2012, in Shanghai, China. Asian stock markets fell Tuesday as uncertainty persisted about what authorities in the U.S., China and Europe might do to deal with a souring global economy. (AP Photo)

BANGKOK (AP) — Weaker-than-expected U.S. manufacturing figures, just days after China announced its own production slowdown, sent Asian stock markets down Wednesday.

A measure of U.S. manufacturing activity ticked down from 49.8 in July to 49.6 in August, according to the Institute for Supply Management, a private trade group. It was the third straight month of a reading below 50, which indicates a contraction.

The U.S. report comes amid shrinking factory activity in almost every major economy, including the 17-country eurozone, Britain, China, Japan and Brazil. In China, factory activity fell last month to its lowest level in more than three years.

Investors are remaining cautious while awaiting a meeting of the European Central Bank on Thursday, during which President Mario Draghi is expected to announce details of a new bond-buying program intended to help countries with high borrowing costs such as Spain and Italy.

Additionally, the weakness in U.S. manufacturing may help persuade the Federal Reserve to announce new action after its meeting next week.

Still, analysts were cautioning that those central bank actions may be too little to protect markets from volatility through the end of the year.

"Whether upcoming ECB and Fed actions will be sufficient to prevent an escalation in risk aversion is debatable especially as markets have already priced in a lot of potential action," analysts at Credit Agricole CIB in Hong Kong said in a market commentary.

Moody's ratings agency on Monday warned that it could downgrade the credit score for the European Union as a whole, citing the mounting financial strain of the crisis on key countries such as Germany and France.

These countries are not only exposed to the higher costs of rescuing weaker countries but their industries are also suffering from weakening demand.

The Nasdaq composite rose 0.3 percent to 3,075.06 after Apple, the index's biggest stock, rose $9.73 on speculation that the company was preparing to announce its iPhone 5 next week.

Benchmark oil for October delivery was down 2 cents to $95.28 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell $1.17 to finish at $95.30 per barrel on the Nymex on Tuesday.

In currencies, the euro fell to $1.2538 from $1.2571 late Tuesday in New York. The dollar was nearly unchanged at 78.44 yen from 78.45 yen.